Vayigash, Zos Chanukah
We are living in a world gone mad.
It has become an almost daily occurrence. I cringe each time I check the news headlines or I am sent the latest tragedy on a Whattsap message. There is steady barrage of senseless, nonsensical, acts of terror and other news that leave us numb, shaking our heads, wondering what’s next. It has become constant. It is world gone mad.
We are living in a world of skewed values, messed up perspectives, totally misplaced priorities that is driving these acts of hate, terror, and violence.
This came starkly to my attention by a sports news item earlier this week. The offensive coordinator coach of the LSU football team, Steve Ensminger, was notified shortly before the big Saturday playoff game that his daughter in law had perished in a fiery plane crash. His 30 year old son was understandably in turmoil and shock. The son then received a call from his father, still at the football sidelines, telling him to be strong and that the Oklahoma team would win the game for him. Then, he went back to coaching his team to an overwhelming victory.
I remain stunned in disbelief that Coach Ensminger chose to continue to coach his team while his son was mourning the tragic death if his wife. I became even more numbed when those on the team praised the coach for his “grit, toughness, and focus during this personal tragedy”. What has happened to our sense of right and wrong, to our ability to prioritize values, to put first things first? It is somewhat easier to understand the chaos occurring around us when a football game becomes more important than a personal, family tragedy. How can it be that nobody suggested to Coach Ensminger that he belongs with his son and family. The football game will go on without him.
In contrast, the opening of our parsha has Yehuda willing to go to war, putting his life on the line, in order to rescue Binyomin and make sure he gets home safely to his father. He stands up for his brother, his father, and his family. He sets the example of courage and righteousness for his other brothers.Yehuda was able to put personal considerations aside, make the right decisions, and to stand up boldly to the king in order to do what is correct.
With the glimmer of Chanukah still in our midst, we can sense the same sense of purpose from the brave Chashmonaim. What were they thinking when they decided to go to war against the Greek empire? On what basis did they decide to enter a hopeless war which they were certain to lose and give their lives for? The answer is that they understood that living under Greek tyranny, unable to serve Hashem as they should, violating the essential tenets of their beliefs was truly no life at all. Better to battle back in and lose than to live in a world of falsehood and idolatry. They fought to set the world right and to ensure that our priorities are clear.
It will take each of us to not only set a personal example but also to speak out against the perversion of values around us, the decaying morality barely noticeable in society. We need to turn the ship around. In a world gone mad, it won’t be easy but with examples like Yehuda and the Chashmonaim, we see it can and must be done.
